Olive Oil Brownies With Sea Salt

My experience is that a tsp of instant espresso powder intensifies the chocolateness in brownies (or cake, cookies...)

Try substituting 1/4 c. strong brewed coffee for the boiling water. The coffee will bring out a more pronounced chocolate flavor.

White sugar = crunchy crackly top

We were blown away by these -- as good as any with butter. Exactly right sweetness level (more for adults than kids) and moisture. Underbake a little for moist fudginess. I used California Olive Ranch everyday oil, Valrhona unsweetened chocolate disks and a quality dark cocoa -- Barry Callebaut is good. So rich and chocolatey that the added chips aren't really necessary. Be lavish with the top salt! These might become our go-to brownies. Great recipe, Melissa.

Logistical questions: does anyone know why granulated sugar is called for here rather than using all brown sugar? (Moisture wouldn't seem an issue in this very high-moisture recipe.) And if anyone tries replacing a few tbsp of flour with some extra cocoa powder, please report back; I'm interested in a more intense chocolate flavor and 1/4c cocoa powder seems inadequate here.

Why am I greasing the pan if I am going to line it with parchment?

I make a recipe similar to this by combining the wet ingredients first (using hot brewed coffee rather than water), then adding that mixture to a mixture of all dry ingredients (including the cocoa powder). This is would eliminate the water/cocoa powder step.

I used Lindt 70 per cent cocoa cooking chocolate, dark chocolate chips and an olive oil specifically labelled as light. They were beautiful!

These brownies are fantastic! I made 3 batches back-to-back and the consistency varied quite a bit. You absolutely need a wire whisk, wooden spoon and rubber spatula when preparing. And I highly recommend weighing the dry ingredients. The results are very sensitive to the amount of ingredients you use. I would use 3 fluid oz of olive oil rather than 6 Tbs - it’s difficult to measure 6 Tbs consistently. My husband does not like brownies but felt these were delicious.

I sprinkle the pan with a little cold water before applying the paper. That helps it stick

If you're looking for more intense chocolate I would up the melted chocolate, cocoa powder is drying so it attracts moisture, the added chocolate will have extra cocoa butter to give a better texture.

I melted Callebaut 100% cocoa chocolate and used brown sugar for half the granulated sugar (to finish of the package of brown sugar so I reduced the granulated sugar amount). I also added one tsp of cocoa powder (when I saw your comment) without reducing the flour. For the remainder I followed the recipe resulting in a nice intensity to the chocolate flavor, more so than the typical brownie and a nice consistency too. I'll make this again.

made this delicious recipe "vegan!" Substituted 1/4 c chopped prunes for the egg... oh and did almond extract vice vanilla. DELICIOUS!

Made with half whole wheat and half white flour. Added about a tbsp more water. Baked for 20 minutes; they came out fudgy and perfect! Absolutely loved them.

I have made these several times recently and used both bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate and Dutch Process vs regular cocoa powder. The unsweetened chocolate and Dutch Process cocoa, as called for in the recipe, really do make a difference in taste and dark rich color. I had to search out the unsweetened (99% Cacao) as my standard grocery no longer stocks it but glad I did.